Two US soldiers arrested in Japan

Naha: Police arrested a 19-year-old US Marine on suspicion of stealing from a taxi and a 33-year-old American airman for an alleged traffic law violation in Okinawa Prefecture of Japan in separate cases, the police said.

The police arrested the lance corporal from the US Marines` Makiminato Service Area in the city of Urasoe for allegedly stealing some JPY 3,000 from a taxi in the city of Ginowan around 10:30 pm on Saturday.

The Marine was apprehended on the spot by police officers who responded to a report from the driver, but denied the allegation, the police said.

The taxi driver called the police after the Marine, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, reached into the cashbox of the taxi when the car was at a hamburger drive-through in the city, the police said, adding there were two other passengers in the car.

Meanwhile, police arrested Technical Sgt Atiba Gresham from the US Air Force`s Kadena Base in Kadena for allegedly refusing to take a breath test for drunken driving in the city of Okinawa around 11:15 pm on Saturday.

According to the police, they stopped his car on the road in the city as he was speeding and asked Gresham to take the test as they smelled alcohol.